BEAUMONT - McNeese clinched the outright Southland Conference championship and overall No. 1 seed for the league postseason tournament for the second straight season after this past Monday's 100-65 whipping over UTRGV, now the Cowboys have their sights on the school record for the most league wins in a season when they visit Lamar for round two of the Battle of the Border rivalry game.
 
Sitting with a 23-6 overall record and 17-1 in conference play, McNeese tied a school mark by recording its 17th league win on Monday. One more win will set a new record while wins at Lamar and Stephen F. Austin on Monday night will tie the conference record of 19 wins held by SFA and set in the 2019-20 season.
 
Lamar (18-11, 13-5) is in second place and has a one-game lead over Southeastern and Nicholls in the league standings in a race for the No. 2 seed and double-bye for the postseason tournament which gets underway on March 9 at McNeese's Legacy Center.
 
Saturday's game will be the 119^th in the all-time series with Lamar holding a slim 60-58 advantage. McNeese has won four straight in the series and is 6-4 over the last 10 matchups.
 
The Cowboys defeated the Cardinals 75-64 in Lake Charles back on Jan. 18. DJ Richards Jr. scored 19 points to lead four double-figure scorers for the Cowboys. Brandon Murray added 14 while Quadir Copeland and Christian Shumate each scored 10. Lamar was led by Alexis Marmolejos with 20 points.
 
STAT LEADERS:
• McNeese has four players averaging double-figure scoring on the season, led by Javohn Garcia with 12.9 ppg and followed by Sincere Parker (11.6), Christian Shumate (10.6), and DJ Richards Jr. (10.0).
• Three players are averaging double-digits in SLC only games – Garcia (14.3), Richards Jr. (12.5), and Shumate (10.2).
• Richards Jr. leads the SLC and is ranked 13^th in the NCAA in 3-point shooting with a .428 percentage.
• McNeese is ranked in the top 25 in the NCAA team stats in five different categories – scoring margin (16^th, +12.9), scoring defense (18^th, 64.3), turnover margin (18^th, 3.8), steals per game (21^st, 9.1), and turnovers forced per game (22^nd, 15.0).
 
NOTEBOOK:
• Currently on a 7-game winning streak, tied as the 5th-longest in the nation.
• A win at Lamar and at Stephen F. Austin on Monday would tie a Southland Conference record for most league wins in a season which was set by SFA's 19 victories in the 2019-20 campaign.
• McNeese has won 17 league games four times in its history, the most of any conference team past or present and is one of only two teams to win 17 or more multiple years (SFA twice).
• The Cowboys are 34-2 in conference play under head coach Will Wade over the last two seasons.
• The 34-2 league record in the 2-year span is the best conference record in all of Division I men's basketball.
• One of 20 teams in the country with 23 wins or more
• McNeese is 15-1 since January 1 and 34-3 since January 1, 2024.
• McNeese has compiled an overall record of 53-10 over the last two seasons, the most in school history as a Division I program over a two-year span and 1 win shy of matching the overall school record of 54 set in the 1956 and 1957 seasons.
• The Cowboys won their 400th all-time Southland Conference game at UNO on Feb. 15 to become the first team in league history, past or present, to win 400 conference games. 
• The Cowboys are 34-2 in Southland Conference games the last two seasons.
• McNeese has an 18-1 record when leading at half and 12-0 when leading at half in conference games.
• 100 points scored in the win over UTRGV on Feb. 24 are the most scored against a D1 opponent this season and the 3rd-most under Will Wade over the last two seasons (102 vs. UNO, 1/27/24; 105 at HCU, 2/12/25) against a D1 opponent.
• 13-1 when shooting 50% or better in 2nd half for the season; 6-0 at 60% or better in 2nd half.
• Shot 50% or better in 2nd half in 12 of 18 SLC games.
• McNeese is outscoring its conference opponents by 15.4 points and has posted 14 of its 17 wins by 10 points or more.
• Brandon Murray has scored 977 points in his career, 23 from 1,000.
• Quadir Copeland has dished out 4 or more assists in 7 straight games and 3 or more in 11-consecutive.
• Richards Jr. has made 157 threes in his McNeese career, ranking 8th all-time in school history.
• Richards Jr. has connected on 24 of 42 from long range the last 6 games.
• Christian Shumate extended his school record with his 39th double-double against UTRGV on Feb. 24, which also ranks him 3rd all-time in conference history.
• Eight different Cowboys have led the team in game scoring at least once this season and seven in rebounding.
 
MILESTONE MAKERS
• McNeese's Christian Shumate made McNeese history at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi where he pulled down his 1,000th career rebound as a Cowboy.
• He's the first player in school history to record 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 blocked shots and 100 steals in a career.
• Javohn Garcia scored the 1,000th point of his career on Feb. 8 against Northwestern State.
• DJ Richards Jr. scored his 1,000th career point against UTRGV on Feb. 24 and popped the 200th three-pointer of his career against NSU on Feb. 8.
• Joe Charles recorded his 700th career rebound on Feb. 24 vs. UTRGV.
• Bryant Selebangue pulled down the 500th rebound of his career at UTRGV on Jan. 25.
• Head coach Will Wade won his 45th game at McNeese against UTRGV on Feb. 24.
• McNeese has won 403 Southland Conference games, extending its own league record.
 
BRACKETOLOGY PROJECTIONS
• All major outlets are projecting McNeese to be a No. 12 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
    • NCAA - #12 vs. Maryland, South Region
    • ESPN - #12 vs. Maryland, Midwest Region
    • CBS - #12 vs. Oregon, Midwest Region
    • Field of 68 - #12 vs. Saint Mary's, South Region
    • USA Today - #12 vs. Missouri, East Region
    • On3 - #12 vs. Clemson, South Region
 
BORN TO RUN
• McNeese is ranked No. 2 in the nation in "kill shots" which are scoring runs of 10 points are more.
• The Cowboys have recorded 29 kill shots on the year, two behind national leader Iowa State (31).
• Recorded at least one kill shot in 14 of 18 conference games and 7 times on the season posted multiple kill shots in a game.
• Season-high three kill shots in a 100-65 win over UTRGV in last outing on Monday with a season-best 22-0 run.
• Four times has started a game with a kill shot - 12-0 vs. Biblical Studies (Nov. 7), 10-0 vs. UNO (Dec. 28), 10-0 vs. Southeastern (Dec. 30), and 10-0 at HCU (Jan. 13).